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Post by jcoutu1 on Aug 18, 2020 9:05:26 GMT -6
Anyone got any experience in this field?
Mark, I'm looking at you...
Obviously, with the world upside down, stream is growing. What do I need to get into the game? I've got a great studio with plenty of space to make it work.
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Post by EmRR on Aug 18, 2020 9:28:36 GMT -6
I've been on a lot of live stream jobs as part of a team, but I'm not the person driving that component.
For a fixed location I expect so long as you have the bandwidth and equipment needed, it's down to the provider you choose.
I was on something recently that used Streamyard to feed a half dozen or more platforms. I'm sure there are a lot of similar options.
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 18, 2020 9:56:14 GMT -6
I manage our team for live streaming and have done it a a few different venues. Currently we are mostly rebroadcasting archived concerts not full on live. But I've worked with Medici TV too.
Biggest thing is an encoder and switcher and camera operators.
We are using Vimeo right now which if you pay for the right tier of their services comes with a software encoder/switcher called Live Streaming(real original i know ha) but it works really well and has some really cool features.
Cameras are important and having people that know how to use them is really important too. But above all is lighting, if you don't have good lighting even the best cameras will look bad.
Doing switching isn't all that hard but having a knack for it helps and really is more about understanding whatever content you are streaming and knowing what to show and when to show it.
Vimeo is also cool as you only have to encode one stream and it will distribute to a LOT of different outlets for you. So we do Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook at the same time. But you can setup as many RTMP streams as you want so you could do Twitch and Periscope as well if you wanted. Its a nice service but not super cheap.
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Post by lpedrum on Aug 18, 2020 21:19:00 GMT -6
I'm slowly and a bit grudgingly trying to understand video more. My studio isn't big enough to livestream a band, but if it was I'd be looking to team up with someone who knows video. This pandemic is probably going to affect live gigs well into next year, and in addition more and more folks seem to want video content when recording. I've played on two live stream gigs to date and both went well. The key was having everyone on board with social distancing, masks (except when actually performing), and cleanliness. I just played Daryl's House this past weekend (Daryl Hall's club in NY) and they really have the multi camera thing down. Here's a LINK to the show. NO ONE was in the club except the band, the sound/video engineer and a stage guy. If you have the room I'd say go for it! If you're curious the cut was 70/30, band/venue.
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 18, 2020 22:50:05 GMT -6
Anyone got any experience in this field? Mark, I'm looking at you... Obviously, with the world upside down, stream is growing. What do I need to get into the game? I've got a great studio with plenty of space to make it work. I don't want to oversell my "experience" on this kind of thing, but yeah, I've been integrating video increasingly over the past 18 months in various forms. There are probably more knowledgeable people here at RGO than me, but I'm more than happy to share anything/everything I've learned. I'll pick this up under Lorne's comment below... I'm slowly and a bit grudgingly trying to understand video more. My studio isn't big enough to livestream a band, but if it was I'd be looking to team up with someone who knows video. This pandemic is probably going to affect live gigs well into next year, and in addition more and more folks seem to want video content when recording. I've played on two live stream gigs to date and both went well. The key was having everyone on board with social distancing, masks (except when actually performing), and cleanliness. I just played Daryl's House this past weekend (Daryl Hall's club in NY) and they really have the multi camera thing down. Here's a LINK to the show. NO ONE was in the club except the band, the sound/video engineer and a stage guy. If you have the room I'd say go for it! If you're curious the cut was 70/30, band/venue. Your experiences sound fantastic, Lorne (nice to meet you, Lorne - I'm Mark). My video involvement has been begrudging at times, too, but I have to admit I've started to enjoy it more over the past 6-8 months. Some things are easily transferrable from the world of audio, but other things are just bizarrely different for no obvious reason. Regardless, to discuss your question, Jesse, I'll answer your question with a question: How many cameras do you want to run? Are you looking to do something like Lorne is talking about at Daryl's House, or are you just thinking about a one camera setup? If you're thinking about a one camera setup, all you really need is an HDMI capture device, and it doesn't have to be expensive. Literally even something as simple as THIS or THIS OTHER THING will do the trick, with a couple caveats: - Your camera needs to have a clean HDMI out (meaning no overlays present on the camera screen following through to the HDMI out)
- Your camera needs to pass audio through its HDMI out. Most do, but not all. Honestly, I've never used either of the particular items I linked to on Amazon above - I'm assuming they will both pick up audio over the HDMI input. It would be crazy strange to me if they didn't.
Your computer then sees your external "good" camera as a webcam, so literally any program (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, QuickTime, anything) on your computer will now see the input of that camera (both video and audio) as a source. Now, if you're talking about doing a multicam setup, I think the easiest thing on the market is the Blackmagic ATEM Mini line. There's the regular Mini, the Mini Pro, and the Mini Pro ISO. I won't go into the finer differences between them in this post, but suffice it to say that all three are very capable devices, and they're quite badass. They essentially have 4 HDMI inputs: you can hook up 4 different cameras at once (or anything that has an HDMI out - like a laptop with lyrics or video content) and switch between those inputs on-the-fly. You can do PIP (picture-in-picture), Chroma key (green screen), various dissolves/wipes, etc. if you want to, or you can keep it totally basic and just switch sources instantly upon button push. They also have two stereo audio inputs (each unbalanced on 3.5mm inputs), so you could (for instance) take the audio feed from your console and run that to one of the ATEM Mini audio inputs to then mix in with your various camera angles. Whether you go single camera or multicam, the next step is getting that video and audio content to stream. There are quite a few options, as you can imagine. Probably the most popular is OBS software, which is open source and free. I find it unintuitive and annoying, but I suspect that's mostly due to the overall differences in the audio and video worlds. There are a shit ton of free tutorials on YouTube about how to use OBS, so it's pretty learnable. Part of my issue with it is that it's just kind of wonky on Macs, IMO. If you're a PC guy, it might make sense right off the bat. But there are other, simpler options that generally (but not always) cost money. AND THEN, here's a difference between the Blackmagic ATEM Mini vs. the Mini Pro or Mini Pro ISO: the Pro and ISO can actually just stream directly to the internet via ethernet - you don't even have to go through a computer (or OBS or any other software) at all if you don't want to. You can also record the whole program live directly to a hard drive and give that to the client at the end of the night if they want a hard copy to upload to their YouTube channel later. OK, I've probably typed waaaaaay too much and answered a bunch of questions you didn't even have, while neglecting questions you did have. Apologies if so. Overall, I want to emphasize that I'm slowly becoming convinced this is the future of our industry - in one capacity or another. I hate it as much as anybody else, but kids are watching YouTube and Instagram more than they're listening to music without video. Fortunately, it's becoming easier to enter this space, and for anyone with a cool studio/club/space (and Jesse, you definitely have that...), this is a great time to enter this emerging market. Bands want to perform. Fans want to watch. Venues are closed for who knows how long. If the fans can't come to you, you go to them. Yes, there's plenty to learn about cameras and lighting. But it's learnable. Or partner with like one other person to oversee that part. It could be a blast to work on, honestly. EDIT: Holy smokes, Jesse - I just watched the "interview" video on your site. Absolutely amazing what you're doing with the singles and live-in-studio stuff. Really, really impressive. Not sure why I hadn't seen that video before now. You could totally add live streaming functionality to what you're already doing to create a new "package" for artists. I imagine you'd get some interest.
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Post by lpedrum on Aug 18, 2020 23:25:49 GMT -6
Anyone got any experience in this field? Mark, I'm looking at you... Obviously, with the world upside down, stream is growing. What do I need to get into the game? I've got a great studio with plenty of space to make it work. I don't want to oversell my "experience" on this kind of thing, but yeah, I've been integrating video increasingly over the past 18 months in various forms. There are probably more knowledgeable people here at RGO than me, but I'm more than happy to share anything/everything I've learned. I'll pick this up under Lorne's comment below... I'm slowly and a bit grudgingly trying to understand video more. My studio isn't big enough to livestream a band, but if it was I'd be looking to team up with someone who knows video. This pandemic is probably going to affect live gigs well into next year, and in addition more and more folks seem to want video content when recording. I've played on two live stream gigs to date and both went well. The key was having everyone on board with social distancing, masks (except when actually performing), and cleanliness. I just played Daryl's House this past weekend (Daryl Hall's club in NY) and they really have the multi camera thing down. Here's a LINK to the show. NO ONE was in the club except the band, the sound/video engineer and a stage guy. If you have the room I'd say go for it! If you're curious the cut was 70/30, band/venue. Your experiences sound fantastic, Lorne (nice to meet you, Lorne - I'm Mark). My video involvement has been begrudging at times, too, but I have to admit I've started to enjoy it more over the past 6-8 months. Some things are easily transferrable from the world of audio, but other things are just bizarrely different for no obvious reason. Regardless, to discuss your question, Jesse, I'll answer your question with a question: How many cameras do you want to run? Are you looking to do something like Lorne is talking about at Daryl's House, or are you just thinking about a one camera setup? If you're thinking about a one camera setup, all you really need is an HDMI capture device, and it doesn't have to be expensive. Literally even something as simple as THIS or THIS OTHER THING will do the trick, with a couple caveats: - Your camera needs to have a clean HDMI out (meaning no overlays present on the camera screen following through to the HDMI out)
- Your camera needs to pass audio through its HDMI out. Most do, but not all. Honestly, I've never used either of the particular items I linked to on Amazon above - I'm assuming they will both pick up audio over the HDMI input. It would be crazy strange to me if they didn't.
Your computer then sees your external "good" camera as a webcam, so literally any program (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, QuickTime, anything) on your computer will now see the input of that camera (both video and audio) as a source. Now, if you're talking about doing a multicam setup, I think the easiest thing on the market is the Blackmagic ATEM Mini line. There's the regular Mini, the Mini Pro, and the Mini Pro ISO. I won't go into the finer differences between them in this post, but suffice it to say that all three are very capable devices, and they're quite badass. They essentially have 4 HDMI inputs: you can hook up 4 different cameras at once (or anything that has an HDMI out - like a laptop with lyrics or video content) and switch between those inputs on-the-fly. You can do PIP (picture-in-picture), Chroma key (green screen), various dissolves/wipes, etc. if you want to, or you can keep it totally basic and just switch sources instantly upon button push. They also have two stereo audio inputs (each unbalanced on 3.5mm inputs), so you could (for instance) take the audio feed from your console and run that to one of the ATEM Mini audio inputs to then mix in with your various camera angles. Whether you go single camera or multicam, the next step is getting that video and audio content to stream. There are quite a few options, as you can imagine. Probably the most popular is OBS software, which is open source and free. I find it unintuitive and annoying, but I suspect that's mostly due to the overall differences in the audio and video worlds. There are a shit ton of free tutorials on YouTube about how to use OBS, so it's pretty learnable. Part of my issue with it is that it's just kind of wonky on Macs, IMO. If you're a PC guy, it might make sense right off the bat. But there are other, simpler options that generally (but not always) cost money. AND THEN, here's a difference between the Blackmagic ATEM Mini vs. the Mini Pro or Mini Pro ISO: the Pro and ISO can actually just stream directly to the internet via ethernet - you don't even have to go through a computer (or OBS or any other software) at all if you don't want to. You can also record the whole program live directly to a hard drive and give that to the client at the end of the night if they want a hard copy to upload to their YouTube channel later. OK, I've probably typed waaaaaay too much and answered a bunch of questions you didn't even have, while neglecting questions you did have. Apologies if so. Overall, I want to emphasize that I'm slowly becoming convinced this is the future of our industry - in one capacity or another. I hate it as much as anybody else, but kids are watching YouTube and Instagram more than they're listening to music without video. Fortunately, it's becoming easier to enter this space, and for anyone with a cool studio/club/space (and Jesse, you definitely have that...), this is a great time to enter this emerging market. Bands want to perform. Fans want to watch. Venues are closed for who knows how long. If the fans can't come to you, you go to them. Yes, there's plenty to learn about cameras and lighting. But it's learnable. Or partner with like one other person to oversee that part. It could be a blast to work on, honestly. Wonderfully thorough Mark! The only thing I would add is that I can't see how multi camera wouldn't be the way to go, especially when trying to capture the energy of a band. And let's face it, if your competition has multi camera and you don't its game over. By the way, the cameras at Daryl's House are all small and fixed in place--you wouldn't even know they were there.
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 18, 2020 23:47:09 GMT -6
Wonderfully thorough Mark! The only thing I would add is that I can't see how multi camera wouldn't be the way to go, especially when trying to capture the energy of a band. And let's face it, if your competition has multi camera and you don't its game over. By the way, the cameras at Daryl's House are all small and fixed in place--you wouldn't even know they were there. This is a great point, and absolutely true. I can't emphasize enough how fast the video market is growing right now, and how quickly the quality is scaling up. My wife just shot a video underwater in a swimming pool a few days ago (I edited it this morning, actually) with a ridiculous little GoPro, and the video quality completely shocked me. No way that quality was achievable in any kind of affordable manner even 2-3 years ago. Grab a couple GoPros as B-cams, a couple mirrorless cameras or DSLRs, hook 'em up to an ATEM switcher, make sure you've got enough good light, and you're ready to roll.
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Post by subspace on Aug 18, 2020 23:59:13 GMT -6
I had to pivot a couple live productions I tech direct to live streams this summer, my old studio assistant set-up a space in a lighting company's warehouse, pipe and drape with a few video panels and movers. Audio was a Midas M32, 5 cameras through a Blackmagic video mixer, Grandma controlling the movers and triggering video panel scenes. We used OBS for the stream to YouTube.
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 19, 2020 0:03:58 GMT -6
Problem with gopros is they suck indoors. They really only shine outside in natural light. Unless you have a TON of light inside.
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 19, 2020 0:21:47 GMT -6
Problem with gopros is they suck indoors. They really only shine outside in natural light. Unless you have a TON of light inside. true. Though generally speaking, you always need more light than you think you’re going to need.
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 19, 2020 0:26:48 GMT -6
Problem with gopros is they suck indoors. They really only shine outside in natural light. Unless you have a TON of light inside. true. Though generally speaking, you always need more light than you think you’re going to need. without a doubt. But gopros aren't exactly made for indoor studio spaces with not awesome lighting is just my point. Outdoors, you're good. But for a studio, I'd invest in something with better color profile and low light performance and overall just more versatile.
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Post by sopwith on Aug 19, 2020 1:14:55 GMT -6
There's no way around it, you're going to need some gear. You'd be suprised how much nice kit even the standard Youtube or Twitch streamer has. But it's not that hard to figure out. I'll absolutely second Mark's suggestion and say get a Blackmagic Atem Mini video switcher (either the Pro for streaming only, or the Pro Iso if you'd like to edit the footage further later.) I grabbed the regular Atem Mini and it's an excellent piece of kit, not to mention the low price.
Get yourself 2 Sony APS-C mirrorless cameras - whatever fits your budget in the A6000 range (6100, 6400, etc). They have beautiful 1080 HD output via HDMI for you to feed into the Atem Mini.
Get some USB power supplies or packs; the Sony cameras can run on USB power (this is critical)
You'll want a few E-mount lenses, but they're cheapish. You can also buy the "kit" with the camera + lens. Make sure one of the lenses is a zoom that goes to around 100mm for closeups.
Then grab a Go Pro for POV shots behind the drums or another interesting angle.
Connect all 3 cameras to the HDMI inputs of the Atem Mini.
You'll want an HDMI display to monitor the preview output of the Atem and make your decisions on cutting between cameras.
You'll need a laptop or PC to run the Atem Mini software (which takes a bit of learning but is the same software which runs on Blackmagic's professional live switchers).
Get a few tripods and tripod heads.
To mix your audio feed with the video, there are two options:
1) take an analog feed from the board into the Atem Mini (it has two 3.5mm stereo jacks), which will allow you to then stream the audio & video directly from the Atem Mini's network port to youtube/vimeo/etc as Mark mentions above.
2) Use a software streaming encoder like OBS and add the audio as a separate source via loopback software (eg RME Totalmix); here you'll merge the video from the Atem Mini and audio from another source). So this means you're going from the Atem to the computer then streaming from the computer, vs #1 above where you're streaming directly from the Atem.
Good luck!
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 19, 2020 6:19:14 GMT -6
Yeah, I suppose I originally meant “GoPro” rather whimsically, when in fact my thought behind it was, “you might even be able to get away with a GoPro.” I really didn’t say that well.
Personally, I would prefer to use all mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses. I like primes with wide apertures, which are better in low light situations, but they generally cost more. And I would prefer to power them with dummy batteries so you don’t have to be wondering how much battery is left an hour into the shoot. (A dummy battery slides into the camera’s battery compartment, but then has a cord dangling out to plug into a little switching power supply. They’re like $15-20.) I use a dummy battery like this with my Canon EOS-R hooked up to my ATEM Mini Pro for 5-6 hours straight, twice a week. Works great.
By the time you start getting into camera brands, you’re entering a world of deeply held religious belief, akin to Mac vs. PC territorial wars. I shoot with Canon, but Sony, Panasonic, Fuji, Nikon, or Blackmagic cameras will also get you excellent picture quality. Depending on how much $ you’re willing to sink into this, you can actually find some very nice and usable stuff on Craigslist. I would imagine the Boston area (fairly short trip for Jesse) would have tons of used stuff. A lot of less experienced shooters upgrade their camera to a newer model thinking the grainy image they were experiencing was due to their camera, when in fact they just needed more light.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 19, 2020 8:59:08 GMT -6
Mark is right about the Blackmagic switcher, excellent investment, I also would take a good look at the Pocket Cine Camera. If your bringing audio into any camera read up on the AGC, think bad comp limiter we used to spend a ton of time and money bypassing AGC in lowend cameras. Most reasonably priced video gear is going to want to see mic or -10 levels so have pads at hand. Lenses are as if not more important than cameras themselves, the different Cannon mounts have become the standard but are not necessarily interchangeable. These lenses are for the most part still spec’ed as though they were being used in the 35mm still photo world so you need to do some homework as to how this will translate to your choice in camera. Lighting, even in the world of full sized cameras with large CCD’s you need a ton of light, as you go down in camera price the size of these chips will go down as well and your lighting needs will go up exponentially. There are a ton of used lighting kits out there at good prices but you have to understand that various fixtures are going to use. Bulbs that have different color temperatures ( think different varieties of white like paint colors) these can be used together with little problem artistically if you know what your doing, but if you don’t... Modern LED fixtures are so much easier to deal with plus the current draw is super low as is the heat output. How big a deal is the heat on old school lights? Well most old school video guys hands look like mine!
Don’t skimp on stands and tripods! Cheap tripods and heads are great if everything is static and the floor doesn’t bounce or vibrate and the camera/ lens is perfectly balanced. That never happens. Find a tripod head combination that’s stable with your Camera/ lens combo, but don’t forget about mics, wireless receivers, shotguns and a camera mounted light when you look at tripods and heads as well as cable routing. Run away from any head that uses a plastic quick release shoe!! The thing will wiggle and wear down till one day it will come loose and your camera will crash to the floor. They don’t build cameras like they used to, or lenses for that matter, if we drop tested Mark’s EOS with an 80-200 VS my old Nikon F3ti with an 80-200 at 4 ft Mark would be in tears! I would be looking at another ding. Same thing if we took Marks rig against an old Panasonic AG460. So getting a good stable tripod is a simple insurance policy. Tripod parts wear out, most real tripod manufacturers like Bogen will sell you every part of the tripod as a replacement part, if you can’t find a diagram showing all the parts don’t buy it. Buy 3 times as many HDMI cables as you think you need, these things are for the most part disposable crap! Think HOSA RCA cables, I was going to say HOSA DSUB, but they at least can be secured with screws! Think about it your entire production is based around a bunch of cheap loose fitting cables! This means your going to use a lot of gaffers tape, don’t skimp and have at least 2 widths with you on every shoot! Can’t tell you how much I wish I had budgeted for wide gaffers tape when I was young and stupid, god the time it would have saved.
Read, play, watch. Manuals are great learn your gear and software before the gig. Technology has changed but not technique, plenty of good books on film/ video and lighting. A couple of those IKEA pose able figures that you will see in most lighting books are great learning tools ( less embarrassing than using real humans as you learn what not to do.
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Post by EmRR on Aug 19, 2020 9:48:48 GMT -6
A GoPro is still better than single shot, if it's what you have on hand. I had a dark theater piece I documented last year, one decent camera and 3 GoPros. Works fine in a pinch, if not ideal.
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 19, 2020 10:00:06 GMT -6
Eric is right on with all his comments. The only places I might differ a bit would be in application. For instance, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema cameras (4K and 6K) are awesome, but they don't have continuous autofocus, which means somebody has to man the camera to make sure you keep focus. (I think they may eventually make it such that you could control focus on a BMPCC from an ATEM device, which would quite frankly be a game-changer.) Whereas with any of the other newer mirrorless cameras (though especially Canon and Sony), the continuous eye AF is quite good, so you could leave a camera in place and generally count on it nailing focus as long as the light is good. Panasonic and Fuji's AF I would put below Canon and Sony.
Anyway, we're getting into the finer points of cameras now, which may or may not be what folks are looking to discuss in this thread. Happy to keep going, though.
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Post by RealNoob on Aug 19, 2020 22:39:33 GMT -6
We have live-streamed for years. We have used a number of different cameras. We started first with a Tricaster. I hated it. I don't like the computer and software being bundled and limited, especially for that price. Until this year, we used a PC I purpose built with Telestream Wirecast. That was a good place to be but we still were piecemealing a bit. I am the leader over sound and tech but the senior leader oversees video as he's a video gear nut. We work to keep each other up to speed. We both have had the ATEM switchers from BMD in mind for years but costs kept us in a holding pattern. When the BMD mini pro came out, I recommended it as it opened up the ATEM line at an amazing price. It also is strictly an HDMI mixer which is where we have been. We have always known we'd be running SDI but the timing was never clear.
We got the Mini Pro a month ago. The SL fell in love immediately. Due to COVID and with that BMD box in mind, we decided to upgrade our offices to the next level for sound and video production. We are now looking at going full BMD for video including a Television Studio 4K switcher/desk, a Hyperdeck for recording, another for playback of clips, a Ursa Mini Pro 4K as a main cam and two Ursa broadcast cameras, and then an Ultra Studio 4K for capturing into a MBP for broadcast. We have decided to wait on the switcher for the next desk as the Stream Bridge, ability to record each camera in the desk individually, as well as the main stream at once, was released in the Mini Pro ISO. We expect it to hit the larger units.
The way we see it, on a lighted set, the Ursa's are in a class. Below that are the Studio and Cin cameras and below the is all the HDMI cameras of differing brands. Stepping into SDI equipped cameras is where you want to be long term due to the finicky nature and limited distances of HDMI.
I'm glad to discuss and look forward to learning more as well as sharing from our experience.
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Post by the other mark williams on Aug 19, 2020 23:45:43 GMT -6
That would indeed be a badass setup, RealNoob. You guys are clearly looking to take things about as far as they can currently go, which is faaaaaar. I feel certain you're 100% on the money with features from the Mini Pro ISO flowing up to the larger desks in the near future. They'll have to. I'm still just amazed BMD have introduced these features at the prices they have. Pretty amazing.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 20, 2020 15:00:13 GMT -6
We have live-streamed for years. We have used a number of different cameras. We started first with a Tricaster. I hated it. I don't like the computer and software being bundled and limited, especially for that price. Until this year, we used a PC I purpose built with Telestream Wirecast. That was a good place to be but we still were piecemealing a bit. I am the leader over sound and tech but the senior leader oversees video as he's a video gear nut. We work to keep each other up to speed. We both have had the ATEM switchers from BMD in mind for years but costs kept us in a holding pattern. When the BMD mini pro came out, I recommended it as it opened up the ATEM line at an amazing price. It also is strictly an HDMI mixer which is where we have been. We have always known we'd be running SDI but the timing was never clear. We got the Mini Pro a month ago. The SL fell in love immediately. Due to COVID and with that BMD box in mind, we decided to upgrade our offices to the next level for sound and video production. We are now looking at going full BMD for video including a Television Studio 4K switcher/desk, a Hyperdeck for recording, another for playback of clips, a Ursa Mini Pro 4K as a main cam and two Ursa broadcast cameras, and then an Ultra Studio 4K for capturing into a MBP for broadcast. We have decided to wait on the switcher for the next desk as the Stream Bridge, ability to record each camera in the desk individually, as well as the main stream at once, was released in the Mini Pro ISO. We expect it to hit the larger units. The way we see it, on a lighted set, the Ursa's are in a class. Below that are the Studio and Cin cameras and below the is all the HDMI cameras of differing brands. Stepping into SDI equipped cameras is where you want to be long term due to the finicky nature and limited distances of HDMI. I'm glad to discuss and look forward to learning more as well as sharing from our experience. To Damn Rob! You guys go big time. The Ursa is worth every penny if you have the pennies! What lenses are you guys going to use?
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Post by brenta on Aug 20, 2020 15:11:04 GMT -6
We have live-streamed for years. We have used a number of different cameras. We started first with a Tricaster. I hated it. I don't like the computer and software being bundled and limited, especially for that price. Until this year, we used a PC I purpose built with Telestream Wirecast. That was a good place to be but we still were piecemealing a bit. I am the leader over sound and tech but the senior leader oversees video as he's a video gear nut. We work to keep each other up to speed. We both have had the ATEM switchers from BMD in mind for years but costs kept us in a holding pattern. When the BMD mini pro came out, I recommended it as it opened up the ATEM line at an amazing price. It also is strictly an HDMI mixer which is where we have been. We have always known we'd be running SDI but the timing was never clear. We got the Mini Pro a month ago. The SL fell in love immediately. Due to COVID and with that BMD box in mind, we decided to upgrade our offices to the next level for sound and video production. We are now looking at going full BMD for video including a Television Studio 4K switcher/desk, a Hyperdeck for recording, another for playback of clips, a Ursa Mini Pro 4K as a main cam and two Ursa broadcast cameras, and then an Ultra Studio 4K for capturing into a MBP for broadcast. We have decided to wait on the switcher for the next desk as the Stream Bridge, ability to record each camera in the desk individually, as well as the main stream at once, was released in the Mini Pro ISO. We expect it to hit the larger units. The way we see it, on a lighted set, the Ursa's are in a class. Below that are the Studio and Cin cameras and below the is all the HDMI cameras of differing brands. Stepping into SDI equipped cameras is where you want to be long term due to the finicky nature and limited distances of HDMI. I'm glad to discuss and look forward to learning more as well as sharing from our experience. How are you streaming 4K, or are you? What kind of upload bandwidth do you need for that and what platforms support it?
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 20, 2020 15:53:16 GMT -6
No platform supports 4k streaming I believe. YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook don't. Facebook doesn't even support 1080P.
But you still gain a lot by capturing in 4k. Better light and color.
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Post by brenta on Aug 20, 2020 17:38:23 GMT -6
No platform supports 4k streaming I believe. YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook don't. Facebook doesn't even support 1080P. But you still gain a lot by capturing in 4k. Better light and color. And then does OBS or whatnot down-convert in real-time while live-streaming? Anybody know if some of these programs like OBS can send different resolutions to different platforms? Like record in 1080p and send that to youtube, but send 720p to Facebook since that’s the max there?
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 20, 2020 20:05:29 GMT -6
No platform supports 4k streaming I believe. YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook don't. Facebook doesn't even support 1080P. But you still gain a lot by capturing in 4k. Better light and color. And then does OBS or whatnot down-convert in real-time while live-streaming? Anybody know if some of these programs like OBS can send different resolutions to different platforms? Like record in 1080p and send that to youtube, but send 720p to Facebook since that’s the max there? Yes they will do live encoding, super taxing on you computer though. It's better to use something else for that but you gotta do what you gotta do. We send to Vimeo in 1080p and then vimeo itself will distribute to other places, I haven't had a problem with sending Facebook the same 1080p stream, but it will do it's own down grade. And man does Facebook totally destroy the audio as well.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,809
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Post by ericn on Aug 20, 2020 20:41:23 GMT -6
And then does OBS or whatnot down-convert in real-time while live-streaming? Anybody know if some of these programs like OBS can send different resolutions to different platforms? Like record in 1080p and send that to youtube, but send 720p to Facebook since that’s the max there? Yes they will do live encoding, super taxing on you computer though. It's better to use something else for that but you gotta do what you gotta do. We send to Vimeo in 1080p and then vimeo itself will distribute to other places, I haven't had a problem with sending Facebook the same 1080p stream, but it will do it's own down grade. And man does Facebook totally destroy the audio as well. I think there are also a couple of hardware codecs as well, you would need to check with a dealer who knows video.
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Post by Guitar on Aug 23, 2020 19:07:35 GMT -6
Really cool thread, I am following closely. Didn't know about the ATEM line, now they are on my radar thanks mark. I'm not on any video/photo forums so all my nice discussion reading happens once in a blue moon on the audio forums. Now that I own some camera gear it has a more profound gravitas.
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